Each of my top 5 could easily have been #1. In the end, I put Gone Girl in the top spot because on almost every page I muttered to myself, “How is she DOING this?”

I want to be a mystery novel lover, because the genre is so huge and so there are so many pleasures to be had, but I often get halfway through a mystery and admit to myself that I simply don’t care who did it or why (P. D. James is someone who often disappoints me this way). Other times I don’t even get that far, because I am so distracted by the poor writing. There are a few writers who never let me down. Kate Atkinson is one; Tana French (see below) is another; and now, I have Gillian Flynn, and I am so, so grateful.

This was a Christmas gift from my husband, and I read it in less than 24 hours. Heti reminds me of Lydia Davis, but without Davis’s chilly control. Don’t get me wrong – chilly control is what I’m all about – but How Should a Person Be is exhilarating, befuddling, and inspiring. Imagine if Lena Dunham made a film that was only interior monologue – it would be a bit like this novel. Self-absorbed and miniature in detail, yet huge in scope. Full of laugh-out-loud gorgeous turns of phrase. I’ve known of Heti for a while but have never felt inclined toward her work – I’ll go back and investigate her earlier books now.

See comments on Gone Girl, above. Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series is a collection of those rare finds: murder mysteries that are re-readable. Not only did I list her novel The Likeness as one of my Top 10 Books of 2010, but it may be one of my favourite books of all time. Broken Harbour may be just as good. The intersection of intricate plotting with beautiful writing is almost unparallelled. Also: set in Ireland, which can’t hurt.

This book should probably be #1, but my top picks are all so good that ranking them is stymieing me. I love graphic novels. Bechdel’s Fun Home, in which she grapples with the legacy of her complicated father, is also one of my favourite books of all time. In this sequel of sorts, she turns her analytical eye on her equally difficult relationship with her mother. One difference: her mother is still alive, and an active participant in the writing and narration of the story. Fascinating, unrelenting, and funny, and Bechdel’s artwork never fails to slay me.

Another graphic novel. Forney’s chronicle of her battle with bipolar disorder is hilarious, touching, instructive and hopeful. Her honest recounting of her own experience is interwoven with historical and medical info. The central question – “Do I have to be crazy to be a great artist?” – is not answered, but the exploration is illuminating.

Compiling the above-mentioned children’s book list has involved re-reading lots of old childhood favourites. I’d forgotten how fantastic this novel is. I must have read it 10 or 12 times as a child, and reading it again now was perhaps my most delightful reading experience of the year, not just for the book itself but for the immediacy with which it transported me back to being a child reader, the wonder of which is difficult to retrieve in adulthood.

This was also a re-read; it was one of the memoirs I taught in my Personal Narrative course this fall. I thought my students might like it – a story about a father who lets his teenage son drop out of school if he agrees that they watch and discuss three films a week, chosen by the father – but I was surprised by how much they enjoyed it, and how much I enjoyed it the second time around.

Is this a cheat? I didn’t actually read this book – I listened to it as an audiobook, and then bought the book so that I could read it, and haven’t gotten around to it yet. People keep telling me that listening to a book counts, and I loved this book, so it makes the list. If you often wonder if there’s something wrong with you because you don’t love going to parties, you’d rather write an email than talk on the phone, and you feel anxious if you don’t get some alone time every day, then this book is for you. It helped me embrace my introverted weirdness and recognize its strengths.

I encourage you all to make your own lists, either in the comments below or on your own blog (please post the link in the comments) because of course I don’t already have enough unread books in my house.

Note: These books were not necessarily published in 2010, but they were part of my 2010 experience.

I really don’t care about the ins and outs of the music industry, but this novel made me care. It also made me believe that a PowerPoint presentation can be as poignant and funny as a short story. Without question, the best book I read all year. Down side: I’m not sure there’s any point in my writing fiction ever again.

A bunch of people working at, or linked to, an English-language newspaper in Rome. Similar in structure to Jennifer Egan’s book in that it seems at first to be a series of disconnected stories, but it’s not. Even the characters who seem the least lovable are completely absorbing. Also: funny.

I cried at the end of this one. Works best if you have recently read or watched Sense and Sensibility, but I expect it would be a joy ride regardless. Sent me running for Schine’s earlier works, none of which really did it for me, but I’m waiting on tenterhooks for her next one.

I am not usually a mystery reader. Exceptions include P. D. James and Kate Atkinson. I am totally chuffed about finding Tana French. I finished The Likeness just last night and, although it was well past my bedtime, I reread the last page four times because I didn’t want it to end. In short: detective is called to the scene of a murder. The victim looks exactly, but exactly, like her. Beautiful, heart-gripping chaos ensues. French has a new book out this year and it’s garnered her a lot of new attention – I wish I were one of the cool people who had discovered her earlier.

This is a bit of a cheat – I listened to this on audiobook last year, but read it for the first time this summer so I could teach it. One of the most enjoyable memoirs I’ve ever read – easy, funny, moving, perfect for the classroom. Walls renders her horrifying childhood and her impossibly selfish parents without a drop of pathos or self-pity. Hard to believe such terrible memories could have produced such a wonderful and touching romp.

Linked short-stories about a middle-school teacher. I don’t know if I loved it because I’m a teacher, but it seems I’m not the only one – Jonathan Franzen and Michael Cunningham both give it raving blurbs. I don’t read a lot of short-story collections these days, but this one feels almost like a novel, like a string of perfectly irregular jewels.

I am a graphic novel lover. I’m not so much into the post-apocalyptic sci-fi vein, but the Y: The Last Man series is my favorite graphic novel series ever. A young man named Yorick, and his male monkey Ampersand, are the only male animals left on earth after a mysterious plague. They set off to find Yorick’s girlfriend. Problems: they don’t know where she is, and being a man in this manless world is … complicated. Stephen King calls it “the best graphic novel I’ve ever read,” if that matters.

This beautiful little book, styled like a note/sketchbook, is aimed at tween girls, and I wish I’d read it when I was one, but it just came out this year. Lydia and Julie are not popular, but they have a plan to become popular, and this book is an illustrated log of their progress. As you can imagine, their plan takes unexpected turns and even puts their friendship in jeopardy. The two girls are enchanting, the pictures are delicious, and reading it made for an afternoon that I would have very much appreciated when I was twelve years old and unhappy with who I was. Give it to a girl you know; it might change her forever, but at the very least, she’ll have a good time.

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My name is Siobhan. I teach college English, and I write about that here.

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